Senior Bowl Draft Report: Brandon Fusco, C, Slippery Rock

by Parks Smith on Jan 28, 2011 3:44 PM EST in Redskins 2011 Draft

Sticking with the obscure offensive lineman theme, I thought we might take a look at another guy that could be beneficial to grab in a late round in April. I admit that I haven’t seen much of this guy, but I’ve been keeping my eye on him this week in practice and look forward to seeing him in action this Saturday.

Brandon Fusco is a 6’4, 300 lbs Center out of Slippery Rock. He is the first player ever from "the Rock" to earn an invite to the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine.

Brandon Fusco of Slippery Rock is one of the more interesting small school prospects in this game. Sixty (60) different scouts made their way through the western Pennsylvania school this season to watch Fusco practice. The Miami Dolphins, San Fransisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings were teams that made multiple trips to see the center. –DraftInsider.net

Pros...
Fusco, by his coach’s accounts, is a very hard worker and leader on and off the field. He was invited to three other All-Star games but turned them down to focus solely on the Senior Bowl. He was an All-American this past year and won the Gene Upshaw Award for the best offensive lineman in D-II. He’s larger than most centers, and is also very smart and physical. He also has very solid footwork and his strength seems to be in pass protection.Cons...

He has been playing D-II ball so there are questions about the competition he played against. Also, he just started playing Center in 2007 and is supposed to be a little slow (5.2 40 time).

Projected Pick: Fusco is ranked by most as the top 4^th or 5^th Center in the draft. I would expect him to go in the 5^th or possibly the 6^th round.

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Comments

I'd take him in the Later rounds

Even though we already have 3 Centers on this team, you’d think there would be a starting Caliber player among those 3, hmmm, I’d probably lean on getting more Guard Depth than anything.

Dear Passionate fan, I know you are passionate, but please reply with a logical answer or I will ignore you.

by TerpsAllTheWay on Jan 28, 2011 4:10 PM EST reply actions

Let me add that Rabach should be gone next year.

Licht, Monty, or Cook should get a shot to start.

Dear Passionate fan, I know you are passionate, but please reply with a logical answer or I will ignore you.

by TerpsAllTheWay on Jan 28, 2011 4:21 PM EST up reply actions

Yes

Rabach is terrible

by BigOLinemen on Jan 29, 2011 12:22 AM EST up reply actions

At this point

I’d take anything to push Rabach. Dude got WORKED this year. I belive his best days are behind him, and Shanny better start looking for a replacement.

by tony420 on Jan 28, 2011 4:19 PM EST reply actions

Anyone else impressed by the Wisconsin helmets in this pic?

by Parks Smith on Jan 28, 2011 4:26 PM EST reply actions

At first glance of the picture I thought

if we’re talking about a guy from slippery rock then why is there a pic from a Wisconsin game. After realizing it was at SB I thought wow, maybe we should be looking at the entire Wisconsin line. It is impressive.

by skinsymets on Jan 28, 2011 4:42 PM EST up reply actions

We used to fight with the guys from Slippery Rock

when they would come down to Players at PSU. Their wrestlers were assholes.

Are you not entertained?

by Tiller56 on Jan 28, 2011 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

We should just draft wisconsins whole o line If they were all eligible

by the maroon bird on Jan 28, 2011 5:59 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

The top ranked centers are not that fast so Fusco is no exception on the other hand Bartholomew is a gym rat that is fast.

06/25/2010 – Ryan Bartholomew isn’t Syracuse’s top performer in the weight room just because of natural ability. He works at it. As an example, Orange head strength coach William Hicks said Bartholomew practiced running the team’s typical 100-yard sprints at home during the players’ post-semester break so he could win the drills. Hicks knew Bartholomew would do that, so he changed the distances when the players returned to start summer conditioning. He had to do something to keep Bartholomew from winning everything. Syracuse’s 6-foot-2, 298-pound senior center topped the team during testing with a 402-pound hand clean and a 525-pound bench press. He also did 30 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press, one of the best on the team, while jumping 31 inches and RUNNING A 4.93 40 on pro day. His body fat is under 17 percent, which Hicks said is far more typical of a defensive lineman than the big guys on the O-line. “He’s a little bit of a freak,” Hicks said. “We joke around and call him a big ball of muscle. Everything looks easy to him in the weight room. The only reason he ever misses something is if I put the wrong weights on, because he lifts everything.” – Brian Bennett, ESPN

by Jefferson1935 on Jan 28, 2011 4:46 PM EST reply actions

Sleeper alert plus he's from MD and went to Dematha

I consider myself a one man wolfpack..

by Diesel44 on Jan 28, 2011 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

lol

My alum!!!!!!

by back_to_the_future on Jan 28, 2011 5:36 PM EST up reply actions

If he went to DeMatha than we can prob expect a Wonderlic score in the mid-teens.

Hogs Haven. On Twitter. And Facebook.

by Kevin Ewoldt on Jan 28, 2011 6:45 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

+1

Dear Passionate fan, I know you are passionate, but please reply with a logical answer or I will ignore you.

by TerpsAllTheWay on Jan 28, 2011 6:57 PM EST up reply actions

ZING!

Scientists believe that the first human being to live 150 years has already been born. I believe I am that human being.

by DCO'sfan on Jan 28, 2011 6:58 PM EST up reply actions

Pending his combine performance.....

sign me up on the Bartholomew wagon as a the best zone center after Wisniewski. Hopefully, the team drafts 1 of these 2.

by JDC15 on Jan 28, 2011 5:18 PM EST up reply actions

I played ball with Bart at DM

And this report doesn’t surprise me at all! Dude was always a specimen and was the most under-appreciated player on the team, obviously, he’s an O-lineman. Anyways, happy to see a great character guy and football player getting some attention for the draft. Keep him at home, Skins!

by LoveThatJoker on Jan 28, 2011 5:35 PM EST up reply actions